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Lynx F.C. vs Gibraltar United

Match corresponding to the 10th Round of the Gibraltarian Premier Division and played on Saturday 3rd February 2018 at 18:15. Match report brought to you courtesy of Turicum Private Bank and Quantocoin.

Football is back on the Rock and this weekend sees the start of Round 2 of the Premier Division. With Farinha and Elghobashy serving the last game of their respective suspensions Manolo has tried Negrette and Aguiar as full back against basement club Lynx FC. A 2-0 win way back in September say United get all three points and a similar outcome is hoped for today. Debutant Ponce de Leon will hope to impress while Pereyra makes his debut in midfield.

Gibraltar United kicked off the first game on the much vaunted new surface laid at the Victroia Stadium on a cold and brisk Saturday evening bathed in the dying light of the winter sun. The cold did not seem to affecet debutant Dani who was quick to drift out to the left and with a mix of pace and deft skill beat the Lynx full back and deliver a delightful ball into Roman that totally unhinged the Yellow and Black defence. Roman, with only the keeper to beat, had a clear shot with his left foot mere seconds into the game. Perhaps he lacked the confidence on his weaker foot or perhaps it was early doors; he chose to swivel and to place the ball on his right foot. This allowed Ketlun the second he needed to position himself and defelct the belated shot away for a corner. An explosive opening!

Though the game settled down soon after it was Lynx who were to provide the next moment of action. Erin was outfoxed by Lopez whose dinked in cross was met by a Lynx forward all alone in the box and with Chino in no man’s land. The Lynx player seemingly had to nod the ball into the net. Nod the ball he did but thanfully for us he nodded it wide of the goal. Wake up call heeded!

United pulled up their socks and took total control of the ball form then on. Dani drifted out to the right and was the target of several hard challenges, indeed full back Moran Blanco was to see two yellows that would result in his dismissal in the 35th minute; both fouls carbon copies of each other. Despite the one man advantage and the lion’s share of possession, United could not create a clear cut chance; a well controlled ball on the chest by Roman and subsequently sliced shot the highlight of this spell. Ketlun did however pull off a masterful save from an Aguiar shot on the cusp of half time.

The second half saw 10 man Lynx entrench themsleves in their half and batter the Black and White storm in a masterful manner. The 9 outfield players masterfully protected their goal and were tight and compact and were able to frustrate the efforts of Dani and Negrette to unhinge the defence. Pipo employed his guile and skill to no avail while Baio was supporting from the deeper areas in picking up the balls constantly batted away by the defence.

The breakthrough seemed to be on when, from a Miereles pass, Roman’s pace pulled him free from the last line. Chuky knew he could not beat him in a flat race so cynically pulled him back as he darted into free space and the goal. Mr Barcelo qucikly blew and flashed a yellow when perhaps a darker shade may have been in order due to the nature of the foul. Once again the Black and Yellow wall remained unbroken.

Erin came very close from one of the many corners United had in the second half while a Pipo cross cum shot was kept out in extremis by Ketlun (the Lynx Man of the Match), who demonstrated great felxibilty in keeping the ball out, a nasty bump against the post his reward. He once again proved his worth late in the game by producing a double save from Roman and Pipo to keep his goal safe. Carlos Carrasco came on for his debut but there was no breaking down of these resolute Lynx players who deserve credit for their performance and they take a justified point with them.

Attention now turns to Manchester 62 in the Rock Cup on Wednesday. The magic of the cup under the lights!